Internal logic

Instead of designing T cells to fight cancer, an MIT group is using synthetic biology to directly manipulate the tumor cells and make them more immunogenic. The big advantage, says the team, is that the system uses intracellular cues to trigger tumor-specific immunity rather than cell-surface antigens, vastly expanding the toolbox for limiting off-target toxicity.

The findings have been licensed by Senti Biosciences Inc., a synthetic biology startup spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) last year by Timothy Lu, principal investigator on the new study. ...